Russian Authorities Discuss AI Industry Support Measures Worth 71.7 Billion Rubles Per Year

The Russian government is considering a package of support measures for the AI industry, proposed by the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization Digital Economy with input from Yandex, Sber, and other market participants. The total estimated cost is 71.7 billion rubles per year, split into 52.4 billion for AI developers and 19.3 billion for stimulating business demand for AI projects. Measures include extending IT tax benefits to companies owning national AI models with data centers, a multiplying coefficient for expenses on graphics cards and network equipment, exemptions from property tax for data centers, a reduced VAT rate for autonomous transport, deductions for expenses on cloud AI platforms, and zero VAT on cloud AI services. Also proposed are immunity from liability for third-party violations, free use of public data for AI training, regulatory sandboxes in medicine, finance, and meteorology, subsidized construction of data centers, preferential loans for server and GPU purchases, grants for dataset creation, and venture funds for AI projects. Priority grid connections for data centers and a registry of trusted AI models for government use are also suggested. Discussions are ongoing, and no specific measures have been finalized. Earlier, Sber and Yandex had requested 400-450 billion rubles per year in state support, which the government did not agree to. In July, President Putin signed a law regulating AI in Russia, introducing definitions for AI, fundamental models, and sovereign and national models.